


don't run away

by celesy



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, precious boys.. save them, they try their best, this is pretty gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 19:52:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8115316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celesy/pseuds/celesy
Summary: There were half a year of words pent up in his chest, but if he was ever presented with the chance to speak his mind, he had no doubt that they’d all stop in his throat and choke him to death.





	

**Author's Note:**

> [fish dancing gif] g a y

Izumi’s lifting his head from his bow, sweat dripping off the ends of his hair, when he sees him in the crowd. 

 

He freezes.

 

The faces blur and blend, and at first he thinks he’s imagining things, but then his vision clears and he can pick him out clearly - orange hair, half covered by a blue hood, and sharp, bright green eyes. 

 

(He remembers how those eyes used to glow, ignited by the stage lights.)

 

He wants to call out to him, to do  _ something, anything - _ but the audience erupts into applause, and anything he might have wanted to say is drowned out by the cheers - so he can only watch as Leo tugs the hood down over his eyes and turns, walking away.

 

As the cheers begin to subside, Izumi’s eyes dart wildly through the crowd, but he can’t see him anymore. He’s lost him.

 

(Again.)

 

So he signs autographs, waves, and smiles until his cheeks hurt, and after a while he’s almost convinced himself that it was all a trick of the light, a cruel illusion, a ghost, thin as paper, blink-and-you-miss-it.

 

It’s better this way, he thinks as he finally heads offstage, waving tiredly to the rest of the Knights. Even if he did see that idiot king, what would he say? What would he do? There were half a year of words pent up in his chest, but if he was ever presented with the chance to speak his mind, he had no doubt that they’d all stop in his throat and choke him to death.

 

He sighs, running a hand through his unruly hair, and then stops. 

 

A flash of orange, poorly concealed by a hood, turning the street corner.

 

Izumi doesn’t even hesitate.

 

* * *

 

He’s a bit out of breath when he catches up, but he swallows the pain, because  _ goddamnit _ it’s  _ Leo _ and breathlessness is unbelievably low on his list of priorities right now.

 

“Hey,” he shouts, and Leo turns, that stupid, bright smile plastered on his face. 

 

“Ahhh…! It’s Sena! Long time no see!”

 

“What-” Izumi pauses to cough and wipe his mouth with the back of his hand - it’s been so long, and that’s all he has to say? He’s more than a little incredulous, but a couple years of dealing with him have made Izumi more tolerant to his antics than the regular person, so he presses on.

 

“Where have you  _ been _ , you stupid king?” he finally gets out, fixing him with a glare that he hopes is stern and threatening.

 

“Wah! What’s with that face?” Much to his chagrin, Leo bursts out laughing, to the point where he has to wipe tears from the corners of his eyes. “You look constipated! Wahahaha! You’re so funny, you know that! I love you~”

 

“Shut up,” he scowls, scuffing his shoe against the ground. “And you didn’t answer my question.”

 

“Ah! Yes! That!” Leo straightens and spreads his arms out dramatically. “You see, Sena,” he starts conspiratorially, as if he’s about to tell an unspeakable secret. 

 

“I was abducted by aliens! To space! Uchuu~” He scrunches up his face and makes double peace signs with his hands, before leaning back in a fit of manic laughter.

 

Izumi doesn’t really know what he expected. He should be used to this by now. Should be used to his off-topic tangents, his ridiculous stories, and the way he can never give a straight answer.

 

But  _ fuck _ that, he’s waited long enough,  _ missed _ him long enough, and like  _ hell _ is he going to let him off the hook with an excuse like that.

 

So he grabs a fistful of Leo’s collar and throws him against the wall. 

 

“What is wrong with you,” he growls. 

 

Leo’s face splits into a wide grin. “Wahahaha! Energetic as always, aren’t you Sena! So interesting! I lo-”

 

“Oh my god,  _ shut up _ ,” he groans, slamming his other hand onto the wall next to Leo’s face, fencing him in. “Answer me.”

 

“Nothing~,” Leo chirps. His smile doesn’t falter, but he won’t look Izumi in the eye. “Why’re you suddenly talking nonsense, Sena? Did the aliens take you too? Mess around with your brain? Is that it? Wahahahaha~”

 

Izumi feels something snap. “I said,  _ shut up _ !” he roars, and even he’s surprised at the ferocity in his voice. “You disappear without a trace for  _ half a fucking year _ and you want me to believe that bullshit story? Don’t you think you owe me some sort of goddamn explanation? Shit, I- I  _ waited  _ for you. We all did, you know that? Me and Kuma and Naru and even that wet-behind-the-ears newbie -  _ God, _ he got the most disgusting misty eyed look on his face anytime someone mentioned you - and now you’re just going to do  _ this _ ? Just because you never gave us a proper goodbye doesn’t mean you can just come back without a proper explanation, you asshole!”

 

He stops, breathing hard. Leo’s eyes are downcast. He’s still smiling, but it’s a sad smile, heavy with tired self loathing.

 

“Don’t run away,” he pleads, not bothering to try and keep the desperation out of his voice. 

 

The other boy is silent, and Izumi feels that frustration rise up in his chest again, but this time it’s accompanied by an overwhelming weariness. He’s tired of all this. He wants things to go back to the way they were before.

 

(They can’t. He knows.)

 

“Leo,” he says softly.

 

Green eyes snap up to meet his. 

 

Izumi realizes that he’s never called Leo by his name before, it’s always been ‘hey’ or ‘you’ or ‘idiot king’ - but now he’s finally looking at him, and Izumi won’t let him go. He holds Leo’s gaze adamantly, and he sees his own pain and anger and sadness reflected and magnified in his eyes.

 

Leo is the first to break eye contact. He looks at his feet, laughing humorlessly. 

 

“‘Don’t run away’, huh,” he muses. “That’s what I did, isn’t it? I ran away. I left you behind.”

 

“You’re right, you know?” he continues after a pause. “I was selfish. I failed you. I came to the live wanting to say something, but I couldn’t face you - I kept thinking,  _ I’ve got no right to be ‘king’ anymore - _ ” He breaks off again. Izumi waits.

 

(He’ll wait forever if he has to.)

 

“I thought you would hate me,” Leo says finally. “I thought that after everything I’d done there was no way you could forgive me.” 

 

They stand there, silent, for one beat. Two.

 

Then Izumi laughs, but it comes out more like a sob. “You’re really an idiot, you know that?” 

 

He kisses him. 

 

Leo kisses like he does everything else - fiercely, with all the emotion that he possesses in that heart of his. Leo’s hand is in his hair, and Izumi tightens his hold on his collar to pull him closer, dropping his other hand from the wall to rest on Leo’s hip. It’s a clumsy kiss, with inexperienced lips and bumping noses. Leo is too impossibly close and not close enough all at once, and Izumi thinks everything they’ve felt in the last three years has come back to life, crashing over them like the ocean’s dark waves. 

 

(“I’m sorry.”

 

“I missed you.”

 

“I love you.”)

 

When they finally break apart, gasping for air, Leo brings his hand from the back of Izumi’s hand to cup the side of his face, and Izumi lets go of his collar.

 

“I wasted so much of our time.” Leo brushes a strand of hair out of Izumi’s face.

 

“I’m expecting you to make up for all of it.” In turn, Izumi’s thumb ghosts over his hipbone.

 

“I thought things had changed,” Leo says quietly.

 

“They have,” Izumi murmurs, covering Leo’s hand with his and turning his face to kiss his palm. “But not  _ this _ . Never this.”

 

(“I’ll believe in you even if nobody else will.” 

 

“I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth if you ask me to.” 

 

“I love you.”

 

These are the things that Izumi does not say, and does not have to.)

 

Leo intertwines their fingers, and Izumi drops his head to rest on his shoulder. 

 

Their youth is a transient flame, always threatening to burn out before their eyes.

 

They can’t bring back the past, but they have each other, they have  _ now _ , and it’s all they need.

**Author's Note:**

> HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THATS GAY
> 
> i read lionheart and immediately fucking died fuck this game fuck thi
> 
> IF U LIKE IZULEO PLEASE FIND ME ON TWITTER (@symchrony) OR TUMBL (@yunarisa) I HAVE NO IZULEO FRIENDS AND I DONT KNOW HOW TO TELL MY EXISTING ONES THAT IM NECK DEEP IN GAY IDOL HELL PLEASE SAVE ME.
> 
> i creid real tears when i found out it wasnt a popular ship and now i am on the ground. permanently. ic ant get up. fucking. help


End file.
